...its a massive investment, and in comparision not as rewarding as other careers given the responsibility.
Given the time and effort needed to acquire the licence, endorsed with enough significant type ratings to command the £50k that one poster has mentioned, any basic Cost-Benefit Analysis would reject aircraft maintenance as a career.
In my own case, had I invested exactly the same amount of time and effort in another career I would by now be a doctor, dentist, chartered accountant or a partner in a law firm and would consider a salary of £50k to be laughable.
The problem in getting enough people with the right ability and dedication is that the job doesn't pay enough to justify the investment. As long as mechanics, technicians or licensed engineers - whatever we choose to call ourselves - are regarded in the same light as the man who fixes our boiler or rips us off after tinkering with our car, we'll remain at the bottom of the chain.
Perhaps we should travel to work in suits, wear white dustcoats instead of overalls at work, then call ourselves Independent Technical Advisors?